A variety of enhanced programming, recording, and viewing options may be available for users who access media content such as television programs. In implementing such enhanced programming, content processing devices such as set-top boxes (“STBs”) and the like have become important for accessing media content services and media content within those services. For example, in addition to supporting traditional analog broadcast video operations, STBs may also support an increasing number of two-way digital services such as video-on-demand (VOD), internet protocol television (“IPTV”), and personal video recording.
An STB may be used to provide a user with control over media services such as VOD, regular video programming, etc., allowing the user to pause or rewind a television program, or to rewind or fast forward an on-demand video, tracking the status of media playback on screen via a “playback bar” or the like. A video playback bar may display information such as the end time of a program, the portion of a program that has been viewed, and the location of the “read head.” A read head indicates a location in the video at which paused video will continue if a “play” option is selected. Other options allow jumping sequentially from one scene of video to another or even from one frame of video to another. Additionally, limited scene selection capabilities accessible from a main menu may be provided from some media, such as digital video discs (DVDs).
Present ways of accessing a particular location within media content are limited. Rewinding or fast-forwarding within media content such as a video file or video program typically involves waiting for the video location to progress from the current location to a desired location, monitored by watching either the on-screen video or the playback bar. Moreover, a location generally cannot be chosen using a “scene selection” option on a DVD while a video is being played. Further, “scene selection” options and the like present users with only a limited number of locations in a video from which locations the user may begin viewing the video.